1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a child car seat and, more particularly, to a child car seat to be mounted on a passenger seat of a vehicle and fastened to the passenger seat by a seat belt.
2. Description of Related Art
Referring to FIG. 9, a known child car seat 1 has a seat body 2 and a base 3 supporting the seat body 2 thereon. The seat body 2 is formed integrally with the base 3 or is supported on the base 3 so as to be turnable or tiltable relative to the base 3.
A seat belt 4 of the vehicle is passed through a belt hole 3a formed in the base 3, and a tongue plate 5 connected to the seat belt 4 is engaged with a latch 6 anchored to the floor of the vehicle to hold the child car seat 1 fixedly on a passenger seat 7 of the vehicle.
When fastening the child car seat 1 to the passenger seat 7 by a lap-and-diagonal seat belt 4, a belt section (diagonal section) 4a extending from the tongue plate 5 is connected to a retractor, not shown, and hence the diagonal section 4a tends to become loose. Therefore, when the lap-and-diagonal seat belt 4 is used, the diagonal section 4a and a belt section (lap section) 4b extending from the tongue plate 5 are fastened together by a clip 8.
A method of setting the child car seat 1 on the passenger seat 7 requires the diagonal section 4a and the lap section 4b to be tensioned sufficiently when fastening together the diagonal section 4a and the lap section 4b by the clip 8. When setting the child car seat 1 on the passenger seat 7, the diagonal section 4a and the lap section 4b are tensioned by attaching the clip 8 to the diagonal section 4a and the lap section 4b while the child car seat 1 is pressed firmly against the passenger seat 7 and the diagonal section 4a is pulled. However, such child car seat mounting work requires the simultaneous performance of two actions, one for pressing the child car seat 1 against the passenger seat 7 and one for pulling the diagonal section 4a. This which is very troublesome and requires both physical strength and skill.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a child car seat that is easy to set on a passenger seat of a vehicle and allows for a seat belt for fastening the child car seat in place to be simply and sufficiently tensioned.
According to the present invention, a child car seat to be set and fixedly held on a passenger seat of a vehicle by a seat belt extended between a retractor and a fixed member, comprises a base to be set on the passenger seat; a seat body to be set on the base; a seat belt fastening mechanism supported on the base for fastening a predetermined portion of the seat belt extending from the retractor; a seat belt tightening mechanism supported on the base for tightening a section extending between the fixed member and the predetermined portion of the seat belt by deflecting the same section toward the passenger seat; and a locking mechanism for locking the seat belt tightening mechanism to keep tight the seat belt tightened by the seat belt tightening mechanism.
Preferably, the seat belt fastening mechanism includes a clip, set on the base, that is capable of clipping a portion of the seat belt.
Preferably, the seat belt tightening mechanism includes a shaft supported on the base and a lever having a base end supported on the shaft, and is capable of tightening the seat belt by deflecting the seat belt by turning the lever on the shaft.
Alternatively, the seat belt tightening mechanism includes a support arm projecting from the base, and a screw provided in the support arm, and is capable of tightening the seat belt by deflecting the seat belt by propelling or turning the screw.
Preferably, the locking mechanism is capable of locking the seat belt tightening mechanism at one of a plurality of positions respectively corresponding to deflections of the seat belt deflected by the seat belt tightening mechanism.
Preferably, the seat belt has a diagonal section extending from a tongue plate, to be latched at a predetermined position on the vehicle, to the retractor, and a lap section extending from the tongue plate to the fixed member. The diagonal section is fastened by the seat belt fastening mechanism, and the lap section is tightened by the seat belt tightening mechanism.
According to the present invention, the seat belt of the vehicle is put on the base, the length of a section of the seat belt is fixed by the seat belt fastening mechanism, and then the seat belt can be tightened by the seat belt tightening mechanism. Thus, work for setting the child car seat on the passenger seat of the vehicle does not include the simultaneous performance of two actions for keeping the length of the seat belt fixed and tightening the seat belt. Consequently, the seat belt can be easily put on the child car seat, and the seat belt used for fastening the child car seat to the passenger seat of the vehicle can be sufficiently tightened.
According to the present invention, the clip set on the base may be used as the seat belt fastening mechanism and hence there might be no possibility of the clip being lost. When the clip is attached to the back part of the base, both hands can be used for engaging the seat with the clip at a high position, which facilitates the work required for fastening the seat belt.
According to the present invention, the seat belt tightening mechanism may include the lever having the base end supported on the shaft supported on the base, and the lever may be turned on the shaft to press the seat belt by the free end of the lever. Thus, a sufficiently high tensile force can be exerted on the seat belt.
According to the present invention, the seat belt tightening mechanism may include the screw supported on the support arm projecting from the base, and the screw may be propelled or turned to press the seat belt. Thus, an optimum tensile force can be optionally selected.
According to the present invention, the locking mechanism is capable of locking the seat belt tightening mechanism at an optional one of a plurality of positions respectively corresponding to deflections of the seat belt pressed by the seat belt tightening mechanism, so that an optimum tensile force can be optionally selected.